


If Pepper Pines for Mack in a Bar But She Can't Spit It Out Does She Get the Girl

by solidburnreturned



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: Awkward Romance, F/F, Ficlet, Humor, Pining, Romantic Comedy, disaster lesbian, poppy and suki are only mentioned theyre not actually in the story rip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 00:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16336427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solidburnreturned/pseuds/solidburnreturned
Summary: Pepper tries her best to ask Mack out to do...something. Being a disaster makes this difficult.(quick fic I wanted to write for my OCs because self indulgence is fun!! the title is...supposed to be a joke rip. like if a tree falls...u get it)





	If Pepper Pines for Mack in a Bar But She Can't Spit It Out Does She Get the Girl

**Author's Note:**

> hey yall lol
> 
> its been a little while since I wrote something but I wanted to write an oc/oc fic because its FUN and I love my characters. If you don't know what any of these nerds look like, here are drawings I've done for them:
> 
> Mack & Pepper: https://solidburnreturned.tumblr.com/post/177916739465/remaking-ref-sheets-for-my-older-ocs-since-theyve
> 
> Rainer: https://solidburnreturned.tumblr.com/post/178290922620/rainers-ref-one-of-the-first-ocs-i-ever-made-for  
> Another for Rainer lol: https://solidburnreturned.tumblr.com/post/176916244350/warm-up-drawing-of-rainer-their-stripes-are-rly
> 
> Keerc (who belongs to my friend Dan!!): https://solidburnreturned.tumblr.com/post/178393357100/matteblues-my-doodle-of-solidburnreturned-s
> 
> okay!! hope u enjoy the mess!!

She was gonna do it. Tonight would be different. For sure. Absolutely.

“Pepper, you’re staring and it’s super obvious.”  


Pepper jerked back in her seat, eyes wide and staring at the wooden bar in front of her. “Really?”

Rainer sipped at their cocktail, nodding slowly. “Just go ask her. You’ve been friends with Mack for, like, years. You got that good chemistry.”

Rubbing her foot against her leg anxiously, Pepper fought the urge to look back over at the peach colored troll sitting near the other end of the bar. She was so...pretty. She had so much confidence. Such a powerful energy. S-

“Pepper, you’re doing it again...”  


Pepper growled in frustration and whipped around to face the smirking striped troll. “I can’t help it!”

“If you were girlfriends, you could just stare at her all the time and I wouldn’t have to keep jerking you back to reality.”  


Before Pepper could completely combust at the thought of dating Mack, the bartender swung by and presented a tall pile of nachos on a plate and a pint in front of her. She went for the pint first. These nerves were gonna end her if she didn’t at least snub them a bit.

Fast service for a busy night. The bar was crowded, trolls packed onto the dance floor (as per usual) and crowded into the booths and bar stools. As fun as tearing up the floor to bass-heavy EDM with a mass of other trolls lit up by colorful strobes sounded, Pepper did not trust her legs to hold up her weight in that moment. Especially with Mack sitting so close by, sipping champagne and picking at the last bit of her taco. Sitting at the bar with Rainer was a much safer bet. But still...

Rainer let out a slightly impatient, slightly amused sigh through their nose. “What exactly is the difference between you asking Mack to hang out with you at a party and asking her to hang out with you at a party as your date?”

“Literally everything,” Pepper snorted between her chugging.   


“Elaborate.”   


Rainer’s frustration was starting to get a bit contagious. Pepper knew the treasure troll wouldn’t understand. She hardly understood it all herself. Mack, as intimidating as her aura was, was actually very friendly and kind. She was always eager to give compliments and invited Pepper over to her pod countless times over the few years they’d known each other. Which was definitely a driving factor to her silence regarding the feelings that stewed in her heart. To accidentally ruin that friendship...Pepper shuddered.

“If she doesn’t feel the same way, it’s all...everything will be screwed up.”  


“I don’t think Mack has ever really met a girl she didn’t like.”  


“ _Love,_ not _like._ I know Mack likes girls, but would she _love_ me?”   


Rainer opened their mouth to give a slightly snarky reply, but paused when Pepper fully turned to face them, the distress in her eyes clearly evident. They put their drink down and scratched at their patch of facial hair, leaning forward. This was a rather silly situation to them. Pepper was a funny troll. She wasn’t quite as expressive as the other trolls when it came to love, but she sure was full to the brim with it. She was just such a nervous, insecure troll. Something needed to be done. A direct approach wasn’t going to work here, they knew that much.

“Do you...want me to ask her for you?”  


Almost choking on her mouthful of nachos, Pepper shook her head furiously. 

Rainer leaned back in their seat again and fiddled with one of their gauges. “Uh...write her a poem. Roses are red, so are your eyes. I have a crush on you, what a surprise.”

A nervous shrug. “I’d have to give it to her though...”

“Just sign your name and send it through snail mail. Put little scrapbook versions of yourselves in there. You could be giving her a rose, or kissing her cheek, or-”  


Pepper seemed to sink into herself, a red blush creeping along her face to almost reach the equally red tips of her ears. “No, no, I can’t. That’s just...too much.”

Fighting the urge to roll their eyes, Rainer continued. “Okay...take her for a ride on your motorcycle.”

“We’ve done that before.”  


“Take her somewhere romantic!”  


“I’ll have helmet hair!”  


_“Do you wanna ask this girl out or not?”_  


“Ask who out?”  


Pepper almost fell off her bar stool at the sound of Mack’s voice. That little half grin she always had widening into a full smile in greeting. Gosh. Wow. This was a disaster.

“Oh, uh...” Rainer looked over at Pepper, who was looking more crimson than burgundy in that moment. “We were just...”  


“This must be good if it’s got you tongue tied, Rainer.” Mack hopped up into Pepper’s lap and leaned her elbows onto the bar, bouncing one foot casually. “Details? Who is she? Do I know her?”  


Oh, man. Rainer really wanted to bust out laughing at the look on Pepper’s face. They almost felt a little bit of pity, but figured this was all out of their hands and in Pepper’s now. Or her lap, really.

“Actually, I have to go for my late-night swim. Pepper here can tell you all about everything.” They flashed the horrified troll a smirk-ish grin, patting her shoulder. “Have a good night, ladies!”  


Mack gave Rainer a nod of goodbye as they ambled out of the bar. Pepper didn’t know if she was angry or grateful or maybe about to pass out. Part of her wanted Mack to get off of her, maybe take the now empty stool in front of her so that she could maybe catch her breath. The other part really just...did not want that to happen. Ever. 

Mack’s eyebrows knitted together a bit and she glanced between Pepper and whatever was across the room, a bit of concern growing on her face. Oh, God, the staring thing. She was doing it again, wasn’t she. Gosh. Oh, no. 

“So?”  


Pepper jumped a bit in her seat. “Huh?”

“Who’s the girl?”  


“Oh. Right. Uh...” Pepper looked away at her feet, biting at her lip piercing. “I don’t think you know her.”

Mack cocked an eyebrow, one hand smoothing the feathers in her boa, the other fiddling with one of the studs in Pepper’s right ear. “Wanna bet?”

Pepper chuckled, brushing at her bangs nervously. “Nah, I mean, you might know her, I dunno.”

“What’s she look like?”  


This hole really just seemed to be digging itself deeper every second. “Uh. She’s...um...pink.”

“Is it Poppy?”  


“Yeah, I’ve got a crush on the queen,” Pepper snorted.

Mack shrugged, eyes rolling up to the ceiling for a moment. “I mean...”

“Well, yeah, who doesn’t. But no, it’s not her.” Pepper reached over to grab her drink, Mack’s boa tickling her nose in the process. “Her hair is...orange.”  


Scratching her chin in thought, Mack helped herself to a few of Pepper’s nachos. “Orange hair...pink skin...Suki?”

“Isn’t she red?”  


“Hm...reddish-pink.”  


“Well...either way, it’s not her. Good guess, though.”  


“I agree. You know what they say, we all tend to look for trolls that look kinda like us.”  


Pepper scrunched her nose as she smirked. “I don’t really think we look alike.”

Mack blinked, her cocky smile sliding away. “What, us?”

“N-No!” Pepper squawked, jumping so hard in her seat that Mack nearly toppled to the floor. “Not us! I-I meant me and Suki!”  


Relaxing back into her previous position, seemingly unfazed by Pepper’s franticness, Mack nodded in understanding. “Ah, alright, alright.”

God, that was too close. The face Mack had made...she wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but it was one that she did not see often. It made her nervous. More nervous than she already was. Mack was not the type of troll be look unsure, or alarmed, or...whatever _that_ was. The urge to ask her what she was thinking about when she thought Pepper meant the two of them was eating at Pepper slowly as Mack continued to list off trolls that fit the vague description Pepper had given.

“Y-Y’know, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Pepper interjected, smiling a little crookedly. “I don’t think I’m gonna ask her out anyway.”

Mack looked more disappointed than Pepper was expecting. “Aw, why?”

Pepper sipped at her drink in an attempt to buy herself a little time. “Uh...she’s just kinda...out of my league.”

A barkish laugh came out of Mack. “C’mon, don’t undersell yourself! You’re a punk, butch biker! Built! Pierced up!”

Her ears burning, Pepper drummed her fingers on the almost-empty glass in her hands. “I-I...”

The pink troll abruptly reached forward to brush Pepper’s bangs out of her face. She tensed considerably. She wanted to jerk away, but Mack removed her hand before she could fully react.

“Maybe if you...” Mack reached up into her hair and pulled out a strip of black fabric. “...put your hair back!”  


Before Pepper could move away, Mack slid the makeshift bandana under her bangs and up over her ears, pink arms reached around her neck to tie the ends together behind her head. Having Mack right up in her face was not uncommon in their relationship, given Mack’s interesting definition of personal space, but it still threw Pepper for a loop and her heart into a frenzy. She loved it, and really did not like it, and always wished it would last maybe just a little bit longer than it did. 

“There! Now I can see both your eyes! That’s always important, eyes are usually what a troll notices first.” Mack gave Pepper a thumbs up and a wide grin, ears twitching up proudly.   


Reflexively, Pepper’s hand reached up towards her scar, but she quickly went and rubbed the back of her neck instead. “Um...thanks, but...I-I don’t know if this’ll really help at all.”

“Hmm...” Mack’s smile got a little softer. “I like when you put your hair up. I like seeing your eyes and all your freckles. And your scar.” Her smile faltered a bit at Pepper’s barely visible flinch at Mack’s last words. “I think you’re handsome.”  


Pepper snorted and shuffled her feet against the wood of the stool. She didn’t know what to say; what could you say when one of the prettiest trolls in the village compliments you? So she stayed silent. Mack went back to fiddling with Pepper’s earrings. This was torture at this point. Her heart was going to burst if she kept all this in any longer. Out of panic or gushing feelings of love, she wasn’t sure. 

“Mack, I...do you...?” Pepper coughed and cleared her throat. “Do you...um...”  


A pink finger started to playfully twirl a piece of Pepper’s smokey hair. “Do I...?”

“D-Do you...maybe want t-”  


“Hey, Mack!”  


The two girls whipped their heads to look over at Keerc, Mack’s brother, waving enthusiastically from the bar’s entrance. He jumped up and down, doing his best to make himself visible over the large crowd. 

“Yeah?” Mack called back, slight impatience in her tone. “Come here so I don’t have to holler in her ear!” She pointed vigorously at a wincing Pepper.

Keerc shook his head. “I can’t! I’m not old enough to come in the bar!”

“You can-!”  


_“What?”_  


Mack groaned in exasperation and hopped down from Pepper’s lap. “Sorry, I better go see what he needs.”

Pepper gave a lopsided grin and a wave. “Yeah! Yeah, no problem!”

“See ya.” Squeezing Pepper’s leg with a smile of goodbye, Mack began wading through the crowd of trolls to her waiting brother. 

Pepper watched her go until the pointed ends of her hair were no longer visible. She hoped maybe she would come back, but after a few minutes, it became clear that Keerc had needed to take his sister elsewhere in the village. Pepper heaved a sigh, the relief she felt crushed almost instantly by the disappointment that was settling in her gut. Oof. What an absolute disaster that was. She was so close to finally maybe asking Mack to do... _something_ , but...just couldn’t spit it out. Again. 

The bandana was ripped away with a huff. Stupid. She grabbed a handful of nachos and stuffed them dejectedly in her frowning mouth. They had gone cold. 

Her head hit the wooden bar with a groan and a heavy clunk. 

**Author's Note:**

> please help her ;w;
> 
> if u enjoyed this u should follow me on tumblr @solidburnreturned, I make a lot of content for these two there!! mostly art but some written things about their relationship arc, who they are, etc
> 
> kudos and comments are rad! ty!


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